


I 



UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 

Published by the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical 
College at Baton Rouge. Issued monthly except November and December, 

Entered December 22, 1909, at Baton Rouge, La., as second-class matter, under 
Act of Congress of July 16, 1894. 

VOL. VI— N. S. JANUARY, 1915 No. 1 —Part 2 



ENGLISH IN THE 
HIGH SCHOOL 

BY 

ALBERT CRANBERRY REED, A. M., Ph.D. 

Professor of English Literature in charge of the 

Department of Comparative Literature, 

Louisiana State University. 



Read at the Annual Meeting of the High School Principals of Louisiana, 
in Baton Rouge, December 10, 1914. 



Reprinted from The Louisiana School Work, ^Janua^y, 1915. 



ENGLISH IN THE HIGH SCHOOL. 



In an address delivered before the State Teachers' Associa- 
tion last April our State Superintendent said: "A very large 
per cent of the material contained in text-books and taught chil- 
dren is useless. It should be supplanted by useful material. "We 
require children to spell 20,000 words found in the spelling 
books, 15,000 of which are never used in a written communica- 
tion, and are therefore of no value. I am inclined to believe that 
the percentage of dead timber in most of the other subjects is 
fully as high." I think the Superintendent is undoubtedly 
right in his contention. Speaking for the subject of English, 
in which we are concerned at present, I am convinced that bur 
spelling books, our grammars, and our rhetorics contain much 
material that has little practical value either for the pupil who 
goes out from the school into life or for the pupil who goes 
from the school to the university for advanced work. The boy 
or girl who habitually spells, in a correct manner, 5,000 of the 
English words most frequently used in writing has a good work- 
ing basis in language as far as English orthography is concerned. 
The principles of grammar which the average pupil will find of 
practical use in life, or in further work in English or other lan- 
guages in college, can be stated and illustrated within 100 pages. 
And the theory of rhetoric which is put into practical use can 
be given within 25 pages. These figures represent, to be Sure, 
minimum essentials. But they give a fair idea of the useless 
material contained in the numerous text-books our students at- 
tempt to master. One very important problem in English teach- 
ing, therefore, is to determine what things are essential and to 
eliminate those things which are unessential. 

Not only are we attempting to teach much that is of little 
practical value, but we are wasting our energies, as well as those 
of our pupils, in tiresome and useless repetition of subject^ 
matter. For example, we attempt to teach pupils to spell the 
same list of words in the elementary schools, in the high sehoolsy 
and in the universities ; and we attempt to drill students on 
the same principles of grammar at two or three different periods 



in the elementary schools, and then force them to take another 
course in grammar in the high school. Aside from wasting time, 
repetition effects the loss of spontaneous interest in a subject 
which is so essential to real progress in all educational work. 
The pupil cannot believe, as he goes over the same ground in 
the various grades, that he is getting anywhere ; and his parents 
share this feeling with him. What is the effect of this? I be- 
lieve that much of the dropping out of pupils from the schools 
is due to this condition alone. I believe, furthermore, that many 
of those who remain in school feel that they are not receiving 
adequate preparation for life. Two things, then, we should do 
at once in our work in English. We should eliminate from our 
text-books the "dead timber" which they contain; and we should 
organize our work in such a way as to avoid wearisome and 
useless repetition. 

With these ideals in mind, let us consider the work in English 
in the high school. This work, as we know, consists of composi- 
tion and rhetoric, literature, grammar, and spelling. I shall limit 
this paper to a discussion of the aims and organization of these 
subjects in the high school course. 

First, what are the aims in teaching composition and rhetoric ? 
Briefly stated, they are: (1) to give the pupil further training 
in the mechanics of writing: (2) to give him increasing power in 
oral and written speech; (3) to help him to think more clearly 
and accurately; and (4) to develop in him a fuller appreciation 
of good literature and increasing interest in the world in which 
he lives. A brief exposition of the meaning and significance of 
these aims may not be out of place. 

Under the mechanics of writing we may include neatness and 
legibility of manuscript, correct spelling and punctuation, cor- 
rect use of language, proper placing of the material on the page — 
in a word, all outward means of making the thought quickly and 
easily understood. This part of the work is highly important; 
the work, moreover, has a decided practical value, because ef- 
ficiency in it is the first and often the only requirement made of 
boys and girls in the business world. Pupils should be drilled 
in the mechanics of writing until they habitually write legibly 
and neatly, spell and punctuate correctly, avoid the common 



errors of speech, and place their work to the best advantage on 
the written page. To do this work effectively the teacher should 
require of his pupils short but frequent compositions ; he should 
read these papers carefully and indicate on the margins or else- 
where the mechanical errors ; and he should require his pupils to 
rewrite their papers and to correct the mistakes which he has 
indicated. The high school teacher cannot drill his pupils too 
much or too carefully on the mechanics of writing. This work 
should be thoroughly done not only because of the emphasis which 
business men place upon it but because the pupil must master 
this work 7iow or never. If a student does not habitually write 
neatly and spell correctly when he enters college or goes out into 
life he will, in all probability, never write neatly and spell cor- 
rectly: his habits have been formed and cannot easily be 
changed. 

But the successful teacher of composition does not stop with 
drilling his pupils in the mechanics of writing. His constant aim, 
also, is to give them greater power in oral and written speech. 
The masterpieces used for models, the theory of rhetoric, every 
exercise and theme will be used as a means of giving them in- 
creasing power in clear, correct, and accurate expression. The 
teacher should remember that his ivork is tested not hy what his 
pupils ktioiv about the models or the principles of rhetoric, hut 
hy their ability to express their thoughts. Can they construct 
clear and correct sentences? Can they write clear and interest- 
ing paragraphs? Can they express exactly what they mean with 
ease and readiness? This is the test, and this is an important 
aim in composition. 

But this power to express oneself clearly, accurately, and 
easily is the result of clear and accurate thinking. In fact, there 
can be no clear writing until there is clear thinking; one cannot 
speak or write accurately until one thinks accurately. A course 
in composition, therefore, is a course in logic. It is valuable 
largely because it develops the student's power to think straight; 
it forces him to recall past experiences, to collect new facts, to 
analyze, weigh, and compare things, and on the basis of all this 
evidence to construct or create new ideas. The real teacher of 
composition, therefore, emphasizes the thought quite as much as 
he does the form; he is as much interested in what his pupils 



say as he is in the manner in which they say it : indeed, his first 
efforts are to get his pupils to think in order that they may get 
something to say. One aim, then, in the teaching of composition 
is to help students to think clearly and accurately. The course 
in composition should contribute as much toward the develop* 
ment of clear and logical thinking as any other subject in the 
curriculum. 

The fourth aim suggested is to develop in the pupil a fuller 
appreciation of good literature and increasing appreciation of 
the fullness of life. This aim is frequently lost sight of by the 
teacher of composition. To be sure, it can not be measured 
as easily as the three aims just considered. But if composi- 
tion is taught successfull}^ the pupil will appreciate more fully 
the great masterpieces, and he will see new meaning in life and 
in external nature. The mere fact that he can construct a good 
sentence or paragraph will help him to value aright the sentence 
and paragraph structure of Macaulay and Stevenson. So also a 
description of a character from life or of some phase of external 
nature, and the narration of events that happen every day, will 
increase his interest in the world in which he lives. Writing 
about things gives one a fuller realization and appreciation of 
the things themselves. 

So much for the aims in teaching rhetoric and composition. 
What are the aims in teaching literature? First of all, the 
aim is to give the pupil an understanding and appreciation 
of some of the great masterpieces of the language. The teach- 
er may hope to realize this aim not by rhapsodizing about 
the beauty of literature, or by analyzing its technique, or by 
tracing the history of its literary forms and movements; he 
can realize it only by making the student see and appreciate the 
meaning of the masterpiece, by having him understand the ex- 
periences and ideals of life set forth. A second aim is to give 
the pupil — through a study of the characters, the philosophy, 
and the ideals of the masterpieces — a broader and saner view of 
life, a heightened sense of the demands of life, and higher and 
nobler ideals of living. Another aim is to develop, through the 
mental images and emotional appeal of literature, the imagina- 
tion and emotions of the pupil. Such training is of inestimable 
value in the development of originality, initiative, and power. 



A final aim is to help the pupil to realize himself ^ to see in 
the poem or the story his own ideals of beauty and conduct 
and the possibilities of his own life. 

These aims the successful teacher of literature may secure 
in his work if he will teach the right masterpieces and teach 
them in the right way. The nature of the masterpiece is to be 
determined, of course, by the nature of the pupil he is dealing 
with. In every case it must be within the pupil's interest, range 
of understanding, sympathy, and feeling. We should not, for 
example, make the mistake of following the historical method if 
by doing so we are studying poems or prose masterpieces which 
are beyond the experience and understanding of the pupil. Many 
high school principals have told me that the college entrance 
requirements contain masterpieces that are entirely outside the 
interest and experience of high school pupils. Such master- 
pieces should, of course, be eliminated from the high school 
course of study; the high school through its experience, and not 
the college, must decide what masterpieces are suitable for the 
boys and girls of high school grade and maturity. 

The work in grammar is no less important than the work in 
literature and composition. If the course in language in the 
elementary grades has been organized so as to avoid tiresome 
and useless repetition of drill on the same principles, the high 
school pupil will welcome a course in formal grammar. It will 
give him a comprehensive view of the whole subject and enable 
him to see the importance and relationship of the various parts. 
Furthermore, he is now able to grasp, as a result of his maturer 
judgment, the scientific principles of the subject. A knowledge 
of grammar is valuable for several reasons. In the first place, 
it is an aid in composition ; the pupil who is ignorant of the prin- 
ciples of grammar cannot understand the construction of the 
English sentence. In the second place, it is an aid in deciding 
questions of usage; the student who is unfamiliar with usage 
cannot correct intelligently his own errors of speech. In the 
third place, it is helpful in the interpretation of literature ; much 
light is often thrown on a difficult passage in prose or poetry as a 
result of the knowledge of grammatical principles. And, finally, 
it is an excellent preparation for the study of such languages as 
Latin, German, and French. The drill in grammar should be 



8 

thorough, and the pupil should master the essentials so well that 
he will be able to make application of them in all future work. 

The subject of spelling does not properly belong in the high 
school course. The high school will never reach the point, per- 
haps, where a weak speller will not slip in. But the drill in 
spelling should be so well done in the grades that 95 per cent of 
the pupils who pass up into the high school will be able to spell, 
automatically and habitually, the words which are most generally 
used in composition. At present, it seems to be necessary to drill 
high school pupils in spelling outside of the work in other courses 
in English. The aim in this work is an eminently practical one : 
to drill the pupil on the words which are most frequently used in 
ordinary writing (for example, those found in the ordinary 
newspapers and magazines), and to drill him so thoroughly on 
these words that he will always spell them correctly in his writ- 
ten work. 

"We have considered the aims in teaching composition and 
rhetoric, literature, grammar, and spelling in the high school. 
Let us consider for a moment the organization of all this work. 
The Department of Education proposes, as I understand it, the 
following plan of work in English for the high school course of 
study : Throughout the eighth grade the work is to be literature 
(four times a week) ; composition, based on the masterpieces 
studied in literature (once a week) ; and spelling (a separate 
period of twenty minutes, five times a week). In the first half, 
of the ninth grade, the work of the eighth grade is to be con- 
tinued; in the second half of the ninth grade the work will be 
formal grammar (four times a week), composition correlated 
with the grammar (once a week), and spelling continued as above. 
In the first half of the tenth grade the work will be literature 
(four times a week), composition based on the literature (once a 
week), and spelling as above; in the second half of the tenth 
grade the work will be rhetoric (four times a week), comjDOsition 
in connection with the theory of rhetoric (once a week), and 
spelling as before. Throughout the eleventh grade the work 
Avill be literature in connection with the history of literature 
(four times a week), composition based on the literature studied 
(once a week), and spelling as in previous years. This plan for 
the high school work in English seems to me to be an admirable 
one, and ought to bring excellent results in securing the aims 
which I have indicated in this paper. 



inilSif!.'!),^/ O^ CONGRESS 



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